new clowns

[Myke7]

I have two small clowns that are acting different. First they are breathing fast and they look like they are being lazy on the bottom of the tank. When I say they are being lazy I mean they look like they are resting on the bottom "swim a little them it looks like they sit a little". I have checked nitrate,nitrite,ph,ammonia,alk,temp is 79,salinity is 29, everything is where it needs to be. This pair has been in the tank for about a week and a half. They are the only fish in the tank. Tank is a 10 gallon with an eclipse hood system. There is about 6 lbs of live rock and a 3" bed of crushed coral. PLEASE HELP

[jap1]

They might be sleeping. Mine do that every night. The female will completely lay down on the bottom. Scared me at first until I learn that clowns do that.

[akm]

Is your salinity 29 ppt? If so you should raise it to 33-35 ppt.

[blueboy]

is the salinity 29 ppt or 1.029? in either case this may need some adjustment(slowly).

[GaryP]

The comment about "breathing fast" concerns me. That could indicate some sort of parasite on their gills. The next thing is more of a long term issue. A 10 gal. is way to small for a pair of clowns. They are going to quickly out grow it. Being in a small tank causes stress, stress causes disease.

[Myke7]

Thank you for the input, the 10 gallon is temporary until they get into thier final home. Right now they are the size of a small paperclip and are lost in the tank. Any suggestions on how to treat the parasite? Have already done a water change and treated Melafix for 3 days right before change. :(